Commodity Market: US Crude Oil falls a third day on unexpected US oil inventory build, Trump threatens not to sign relief bill

Futures on US West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil retreated for a third straight trading day on Wednesday, as an industry report revealed a surprise crude oil inventory build in the United States, while President Donald Trump threatened not to sign an $892 billion COVID-19 relief bill.

Trump demanded that Congress raise the amount in the stimulus checks that were approved by lawmakers earlier this week.

Meanwhile, the American Petroleum Institute (API) reported on Tuesday that US crude oil stocks had risen by 2.70 million barrels during the week ended December 18th, surprising market players as analyst estimates had pointed to a 3.25 million barrel decrease.

Oil prices have also come under pressure due to future demand recovery concerns, as a new, more infectious strain of the coronavirus has emerged in Britain. As a result, much of the world has cut travel ties with the country.

“This is the holiday period, when people go out and that prompts fuel demand. But now, a majority of flights have been cancelled to and from the UK, so this is going to impact oil demand (overall),” Ravindra Rao, vice president of commodities at Kotak Securities, was quoted as saying by Reuters.

“Sometime earlier, the expectation was that the virus threat was subsiding, and demand was slowly and slightly moving higher. But with this … new coronavirus strain, the market is purely operating on sentiment right now that it is going to create more restrictions.”

As of 9:28 GMT on Wednesday WTI Crude Oil Futures were edging down 0.15% to trade at $46.95 per barrel, after earlier touching an intraday low of $46.16, or its weakest level since December 14th ($45.69 per barrel). WTI Crude Oil Futures have risen 3.99% so far in December, following another 26.68% surge in November, the biggest since May.

Brent Oil Futures were edging up 0.24% on the day to trade at $49.92 per barrel, after earlier touching an intraday low of $49.22, or its weakest level since December 21st ($49.22 per barrel). Brent Oil Futures have risen 5.21% so far in December, following another 25.83% surge in November, or the biggest since May.

Daily Pivot Levels (traditional method of calculation) – WTI Crude Oil Futures

Central Pivot – $47.19
R1 – $47.79
R2 – $48.55
R3 – $49.15
R4 – $49.74

S1 – $46.43
S2 – $45.83
S3 – $45.07
S4 – $44.30

Daily Pivot Levels (traditional method of calculation) – Brent Oil Futures

Central Pivot – $50.08
R1 – $50.58
R2 – $51.37
R3 – $51.87
R4 – $52.38

S1 – $49.29
S2 – $48.79
S3 – $48.00
S4 – $47.22